Anastasia Ashley Interview

Not only is Anastasia Ashley one of the hottest female big wave surfers in the game, but she has graced our 99 Most Outstanding Women list for the last several years running. What is it about this SoCal girl that makes her so cool though? It’s simply the fact that she is the definition of total package; and while she has made a name for herself on the social media landscape, she is the furthest thing from what Ronda Rousey has termed a “Do nothing bitch.”

We sat down with Ashley backstage at Las Vegas’ annual Life Is Beautiful fest (which showcases major music performances, culinary demonstrations and educational seminars) where the 28-year-old spoke on her career as a female athlete. During our private, one-on-one chat, we got her take on everything from: Rousey’s comments, dating as a hot female athlete, how you might get her attention and what’s it’s like to have Madonna give you a lap dance and grind on you.

To kick things off, Ronda Rousey recently came out pretty strong against "Do nothing bitches," specifically in regards to social media models. Obviously, you balance your platforms with legit surfing and brand partnerships, but what is your take on her criticisms?
I thought it was really cool and really refreshing that she stood up and said that. I believe the whole quote was her body is athletic and it’s made to do something so she does not just lie around and take photos of herself. I think she's a really good example of the new face of what women's sports are about. You don't have to be super masculine; you can still be sexy, have an athletic body and be cool.

I think it's amazing what she's getting at. She's downright saying flatly, because I think there is an emphasis, especially now with social media and women and their bodies, to be very self-conscious and also feel that girls need to look a certain way, act a certain way, take pictures a certain way. I think it's a really refreshing take on, hey, you can be like that, but also you don't have to be just that. You can be successful in sports or anything and I think that's really cool.

What do you think about do nothing bitches?
I don't really respect girls that don't do anything, that are just pretty. I think there are so many girls nowadays that are basically do nothing bitches, that don't do anything positive with their following or they're just a social media models. You should use your platform to better other people's lives, as cheesy as that sounds. At least if you don't have a career, do something with yourself that’s positive.

When did you start taking social media seriously and really start to build a brand?
I was in chat rooms when I was ten. I was always on the internet. I was on Twitter, I was on MySpace. I don't know how many friends I had, maybe 20,000 on MySpace back in the day. I was always really into the idea of posting pictures of yourself because I thought it was cool and I thought it was fun. For me, I realized that it was a really good asset for my career about two years ago with the explosion of Instagram. I didn’t feel like, even for me, people were as engaged with Facebook, Twitter or MySpace as they are with Instagram, which is more of a daily ritual for a lot of people. Before social media was just something people would kind of do in passing.

When I noticed that shift and that people were recognizing me from social platforms and not necessarily from my sport career, that's when I started to be, "Oh, wow. There is actually a thing to being on the internet and having a following.” People actually recognize you.